About 7.5 million Nigerian voters are expected to vote in the presidential and legislative elections on Sunday, December 27. The 26,000 polling stations opened around 8 a.m. with a slight delay, and about thirty candidates are running to succeed Mahamadou Issoufou. Mohamed Bazoum, from the ruling Nigerian Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), is one of 30 candidates to run in the first round on Sunday.
With our Special Correspondent in Niamey, Magali Lagrangeand our correspondent in Niamey, Moussa Kaka
On Saturday, December 26, Niamey was quiet with slightly fewer people than usual on the streets since some voters left the capital and went to the regions to be able to vote where they are registered. This Sunday, 7.5 million Nigerian voters are called to return to the polls, just two weeks after the local elections.
In front of the polling station at the Amirou Djibo School in Niamey this Sunday morning, voters were at the meeting. There were a lot of crowds and long lines were visible outside the polling stations. About ten offices are installed in this school.
Micro sidewalk
At polling station 216, for example, 410 voters are registered. “They will all pass by at the end of the day,” predicts the president of the polling station. The innovation this year is that all polling material has spent the night in the centers, well guarded by elements from the National Guard. At this school, therefore, it is the national guards who ensure the security of the election.
The delegates from the political parties are also present, the voters have the index with blue ink, as proof that they have voted. Many mistakes observed during the old municipal elections on December 13 have been corrected, according to several presidents of the polling stations. Political parties have sensitized their activists to avoid blank votes on a single ballot that has 30 candidates.
Some irregularities
International and national observers are added to this poll. Among them is the Observatory for the Election Process (OPELE), which brings together Nigerian civil society organizations and made a status report in mid-Sunday.
OPELE notes that most of the polling stations are open in the country, however, noting some irregularities such as the lack of polling station in some stations, especially in the capital.
The observatory also provokes cases of conscientious objection in several regions, especially voice exchanges with food or money.
An unprecedented vote on the end of ten-year presidency Issoufou
The President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou
The outgoing president, Mahamadou Issoufou, of the Nigerian Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), is nearing the end of his two terms and is not a candidate for his own legacy. Mohamed Bazoum, who wants to ensure “continuity” in his work, runs to succeed him. The first round is for this Sunday, but will there be another A victory for a candidate in the first round of the presidential election would be a first in Niger.
New in this poll: the ballot paper will be unique. All the candidates are displayed on the same sheet on which their photo and the logo of their political formation are placed. Voters must select the corresponding field. The president’s vote is combined with legislative elections to elect the 166 new deputies who make up the National Assembly. The five representatives of the diaspora are elected later.
I greet and congratulate all the political parties that have led a peaceful election campaign for the local elections, and ask them to maintain this good behavior throughout the legislative and presidential election campaign. 1/2
– Issoufou Mahamadou (@IssoufouMhm) December 14, 2020
The election campaign took place without violence. It has even gone almost unnoticed in some areas of the country because very few candidates have really set foot on the ground. Apart from Mohamed Bazoum, the candidates mobilized few financial and material resources, and most of them visited their home country or held meetings in the regional capitals.
The opposition fought in scattered order. It was only 48 hours before the first trip that Hama Amadou brought his support for Mahamane Ousmane. They were then joined by Amadou Boubacar Cissé, who threw in the towel.
Elections despite strengthening health measures
These elections are being held, while the authorities announced a few days ago a strengthening of the measures to combat Covid-19. Collections are prohibited, bars and theaters are also closed for two weeks with the possibility of strengthening these measures, if necessary, after this period.
The candidate for the ruling party, Mohamed Bazoum, had canceled its last meeting on Friday 25 December in the capital, precisely because of the increase in cases of coronavirus. The Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) explains that it has certain health kits, that there are stains and will be sent on the spot to invite the public to respect the barriers on Sunday in the polling stations. Ceni says it does not want to take the risk of being a disease vector.
The jihadist threat worries voters
Although the campaign took place without violent deprivation, Niger, like other countries in the Sahel, is facingattacks by jihadist groups. In December, Boko Haram terrorists hit Toumour, near Nigeria. Seven soldiers were killed in ambush in the west. Aware of this threat, Nigerian voters are waiting for the security of voting operations.
Ceni recalls that its mission is to guarantee the right of every citizen to vote throughout the territory and to ensure that it has taken steps to secure the vote. Its president, Issaka Souna, acknowledges that Niger is living in a security situation. difficult, especially in border areas, in the Tillabéri regions, between Tahoua and Mali or in the Lake Chad area. “We know that there is no such thing as zero risk,” explains Issaka Souna, specifying that all security forces are mobilized and that there are preventive and action mechanisms to secure people, goods and people. equipment.
On the part of civil society, some actors say that the police were not visible everywhere during the local elections. Ali Idrissa, coordinator of the Election Process Observatory (OPELE), which brings together several civil society organizations, believes that patrols in the municipalities are necessary so that the presence of the security forces can be felt on a par with the offices in voice.
►Also read: Nigerian presidential election: the end of the campaign for the running candidates
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